The present invention relates to tobacco processing, and in particular to a method for modifying the flavor attributes of tobacco during a tobacco reconstitution process.
Cigarettes are popular smoking articles which have a substantially cylindrical rod shaped structure and include a charge of tobacco material surrounded by a wrapper, such as paper, thereby forming a so-called "tobacco rod." It has become desirable to manufacture a cigarette having a cylindrical filter aligned in an end-to-end relationship with the tobacco rod. Typically, a filter includes cellulose acetate circumscribed by plug wrap, and is attached to the tobacco rod using a circumscribing tipping material. See, Baker, Prog. Ener. Combust. Sci., Vol. 7 pp. 135-153 (1981).
Typical cigarettes include blends of various tobaccos, such as the flue-cured, Burley, Md. and Oriental tobaccos. Cigarette blends also can include certain amounts of processed and reconstituted tobacco materials. Reconstituted tobacco materials often are manufactured from tobacco stems, dust and scrap using papermaking processes. See, Tobacco Encyclopedia, edit. by Voges, pp. 389-390, TJI (1984) and U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,962,774 to Thomasson et al and 4,987,906 to Young et al. See, also, U.S. Pat. No. 4,421,126 to Gellatly.
It would be desirable to provide an efficient and effective process for altering the sensory (e.g., flavor, aroma, harshness, mildness and aftertaste) attributes of tobacco during a reconstitution process.